September 2015

FTC Looking at Complaints Over Google’s Android Control

Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission is looking at complaints that Google uses its Android operating system for smartphones to favor its search and services at the expense of rivals. The FTC’s examination of Android-related issues is in its early stages, and it isn’t clear the FTC will allocate significant resources to mount a detailed probe. The FTC hasn't contacted Google to ask questions related to a probe of Android, apparently.

FTC officials have held meetings recently with app developers and other providers of online services who have complained about Google’s control over Android. Among the questions the FTC is exploring is whether Google uses Android to enhance its lead in online search.

North America is out of IPv4 addresses -- for really real this time

As of Sept 24, North America is out of IPv4 addresses. Getting that feeling of déjà vu all over again? In July, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) was activating its waitlist policy, wherein organizations that qualify for a block of IPv4 addresses larger than the largest block in ARIN's available pool of addresses could opt to wait for that larger block to become available. Organizations requesting block sizes that were still available would still receive IPv4 addresses.

But as of September 24, ARIN no longer has any IPv4 addresses available to be given out to organizations in the region. The pool is empty. This time, it's for real. So organizations in the US, Canada, part of the Caribbean, and some additional islands will either have to take their chances on the waitlist, buy IPv4 addresses from someone else, or use IPv6 instead. ARIN CEO John Curran said that he expects very little new IPv4 address space to become available at ARIN, so those on the waitlist shouldn't get their hopes up.

Lightsquared, LTE-U and the revenge of the 'anti-commons'

[Commentary] Many have feared that unlicensed spectrum would suffer from a "tragedy of the commons," in which the spectrum becomes congested as more users dive in without regard to their effects on other users. Engineers and others have worked hard to prevent that outcome. But what was not anticipated was the "tragedy of the anti-commons," which is the Bizarro-World version of the more familiar tragedy. Instead of more users piling in, the many and disparate users of an existing technology act as if they hold property rights but are unable to coordinate other than to block new technologies, potentially depriving society of large net benefits.

The anti-commons problem is at play in two of today's big fights, one involving government spectrum and one involving unlicensed spectrum. The first is Lightsquared versus GPS. The second is LTE-U versus Wi-Fi, which is actually a struggle to avoid commons and anti-commons tragedies. Both disputes appear to be about interference, but that's only a symptom of a deeper issue.

[Wallsten is vice president for research and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute]

FCC: Open source router software is still legal -- under certain conditions

With the Federal Communications Commission being criticized for rules that may limit a user’s right to install open source firmware on wireless routers, we’ve been trying to get more specifics from the FCC about its intentions. Despite an FCC guidance to router manufacturers that seems to ban open source firmware such as DD-WRT and OpenWRT, FCC spokesperson Charles Meisch said that there is in fact no such ban. But there are restrictions that in some cases could cause a manufacturer to decide to prevent the installation of third-party firmware.

In fact, disabling the installation of third-party firmware by the user may be the easiest and most straightforward way for hardware makers to comply with the FCC's guidance. That guidance specifically requires manufacturers to prevent user modifications that cause radios to operate outside their licensed radio frequency parameters. The goal is to prevent interference with other systems by making sure devices only work within their allowed frequencies, types of modulation, and power levels. The FCC said its actions are meant to address “interference with FAA Doppler weather radar systems caused by modified devices” and other potential interference problems.

Turns Out Our Mobile Broadband Is As Mediocre As Our Wireline Broadband.

[Commentary] It is time once again for folks to file comments in the Federal Communications Commission annual Notice of Inquiry on the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Services, aka the Section 706 Report (after Section 706 of the 1996 Act) aka the data (which along with FCC Form 477) which forms the basis for the FCC’s annual “State of the Broadband” report.

2015’s notice is particularly good, as (befitting a more mature broadband industry than we had when we started running this in 1998), so of course all those who would prefer we set the bar low enough to give ourselves a gold star for showing up hate it. Which makes these two reports on the state of broadband particularly timely. According to Akami, we rank 20th in global broadband speeds. Before the broadband industry and their cheerleaders counter that we have the best mobile broadband/most extensive LTE deployment in the world, I point to this new report from OpenSignal that finds we rank 54th in global mobile network speed. 20th and 54th. I’m so proud. USA! USA!

Municipalities: Broadband Is Not a ‘Core Utility’

[Commentary] It is timely to fact check the Federal Government’s storyline that broadband is a ‘core utility,’ given a new White House report that directs municipalities that broadband is a “core utility… like water, sewer and electricity;” and given that a senior Federal Communications Commission official recently encouraged local municipalities at the NATOA conference to build their own local broadband infrastructure with the FCC’s backing now that the FCC has claimed the legal authority to preempt State laws limiting municipal broadband. If municipalities are fair, thorough, and fact-based in their decision making, they can’t help but conclude that broadband service has none of the relevant factual characteristics that public utilities like water, sewer or electricity do.

From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities

A mass surveillance operation -- code-named KARMA POLICE -- was launched by British spies around 2008 without any public debate or scrutiny. It was just one part of a giant global Internet spying apparatus built by the United Kingdom’s electronic eavesdropping agency, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. There was a simple aim at the heart of the top-secret program: Record the website browsing habits of “every visible user on the Internet.” Before long, billions of digital records about ordinary people’s online activities were being stored every day. Among them were details cataloging visits to porn, social media and news websites, search engines, chat forums, and blogs.

The revelations about the scope of the British agency’s surveillance are contained in documents obtained by The Intercept from National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. Previous reports based on the leaked files have exposed how GCHQ taps into Internet cables to monitor communications on a vast scale, but many details about what happens to the data after it has been vacuumed up have remained unclear.

“Snowden Treaty” proposed to curtail mass surveillance and protect whistleblowers

A "Snowden Treaty" designed to counter mass surveillance and protect whistleblowers around the world has been proposed by Edward Snowden, and three of the people most closely associated with his leaks: the documentary film-maker Laura Poitras; David Miranda, who was detained at Heathrow airport, and is the Brazilian coordinator of the campaign to give asylum to Snowden in Brazil; and his partner, the journalist Glenn Greenwald.

The "International Treaty on the Right to Privacy, Protection Against Improper Surveillance and Protection of Whistleblowers," to give it its full title, was launched Sept 24 in New York by Miranda, with Snowden and Greenwald speaking via video. According to a summary of the proposed treaty, nations that sign up to it will be "required to make changes to legislation and practices to end mass surveillance." Signatory states "must consider data protection and the right to privacy in all future programs and policies," while also strengthening the oversight of state surveillance, which is often very weak. They will need to "establish independent national supervision to ensure public transparency and accountability in their surveillance-related activities. They will also commit to undertaking comprehensive reviews of existing surveillance practices every 5 years, with their results made public."

Consumer Protection in the Broadband Era: The Role of the FCC

The first goal of this talk is to demonstrate the breadth, importance and impact of the Federal Communications Commission's consumer protection activities. The FCC's role is akin to that of the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB, that new agency Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stood up after the financial crisis. Like those agencies, the actions the FCC takes affect the everyday lives of ordinary Americans.

The second goal of this talk is to discuss how our role and responsibilities complement other agencies, and debunk some common arguments that the FCC should be less active in the consumer protection game.

Hey FCC, Don’t Lock Down Our Wi-Fi Routers

[Commentary] The future of countless open source wireless programs and projects might be in jeopardy. Proposed rules by the Federal Communications Commission have digital watchdogs and open source advocates worried that manufacturers will lock down routers, blocking the installation of third-party firmware -- including open source software like OpenWRT and DD-WRT. In March of 2014, the FCC updated its requirements for U-NII devices operating on the 5 Ghz bandwidth -- a designation that covers a wide range of Wi-Fi devices and routers. “In this particular case, this is about safety,” said William Lumpkins, Sr. Member IEEE, IEEE Sensors Council/SMC Standards Chair. It isn’t unusual, Lumpkins said, for the FCC to take steps to keep devices operating within their intended parameters. What is unusual, Lumpkins added, is for the FCC to call out -- by name -- specific software.

This March, the FCC published a guideline to help manufacturers meet the new requirements for the hundreds of new routers and access points that hit the American market every single year. So, is the FCC mandating that manufacturers lock down the whole router—including its operating system? Not really. Yes, regulating the airwaves is important -- especially as more and more Wi-Fi-enabled devices explode onto the market. But encouraging manufacturers (even unintentionally) to lock down entire devices -- making every part of them, as opposed to just the radio, unmodifiable -- is the regulatory equivalent of using a rocket launcher to eliminate with a rat infestation. You might get the rats, but at what cost? In this case, I’m hoping that open source communities don’t wind up as collateral damage.

Benton

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